Showers of Savings - April 2014 Frugal Chatter

[lizzie bargain]

Angela-With regard to Sask Health-can you move up a level of bureaucrats to get your additional 6 months of overpayments back. Is there an appeal process or a provinical ombusmen you can speak with with?

[Natalka]

^ good idea for Angela - contact your MLA.

Good morning, everyone! Where the heck did April go?

[jasperandchar]

I just got a call that Mom`s last remaining sister died today at the age of 91. That is the same age as Mom, another sister and their mother were.

So sorry for your family's loss crochetlady! Hugs to you and your family on the passing of your aunt.

[jasperandchar]

Going to catch up and then I'll see you in May It Be Frugal, here's the link....I do apologize for my tardiness.

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/383456-...a/#post5941894

[jasperandchar]

Sorry CL to hear about your aunt. And for all of us with DH's on the sick and injured list, I have the same problem. My husband has had a sore leg for 12 months-a running injury. Anyway he has been treated by the doctor with expensive injections which have perhaps helped a bit-yesterday he started physio and he says the stretches hurt so hopefully that means they are working on the correct area. I feel bad to see him in pain too. I spent the day taking my 82 year old Mum to a couple of medical apts-she can still drive but these were in unfamiliar parts of town so I was happy to take her. Just spent 1/2 hour helping our Korean student edit 3 paragraphs of written English homework. DH took DD out for a driving lesson as she got her learners permit on the weekend. I took her last night-so far we are just letting her get comfortable with the basics in a local parking lot before having her venture out in the busy Calgary traffic.

By the way J and C, I think you can freeze nuts to keep them fresh for baking if you end up buying large containers.

lizzie sorry to hear the your dh is suffering as well, you feel so bad for them hope his continued therapies help improve/correct his injury.

I've never froze nuts but if I buy larger bags I will definitely do this, thanks for the tip.

Good luck with your daughters learners I'm sure she will be sailing down the highway like a pro in no time

[Angela273]

Angela-With regard to Sask Health-can you move up a level of bureaucrats to get your additional 6 months of overpayments back. Is there an appeal process or a provinical ombusmen you can speak with with?

I'm not sure if that would help. It took several calls and faxes, dealing with some higher-ups in Sask Health to get the results that I did. I was told by everyone that they don't normally retro-act anything, and since I had received letters during the year that told me portion after the coverage was 52%, that it's somewhat my fault for not bringing it to their attention and asking for re-assessments sooner. I was supposed to be covered at 22% all last year and this year, because my income had changed significantly since I was no longer working full-time. Part of the issue with the way they did their calculation is that someone forgot to include my exceptional drug status costs into all of this...instead of using the provincial average. I didn't realize that I could contact them and get my coverage adjusted based on my changing income (which I had done years ago).

I've got a dental cleaning first thing this morning, so I have to run. Dentists are not my favourite people...particularly since I have had so many bad dentists in my relatively short life.

[jasperandchar]

J and C-I will weigh in with my opinion on Jaden's pants. Not sure how old he is but this seems like a case of want vs need? It sounds to me like 4 pairs is enough for school especially with you washing so often. And as you say he is growing fast and money is tight-and surely some days he can wear a pair 2 days in a row unless he is rolling in the dirt? Anyway I would suggest if he wants another pair he thinks of ways to earn a little extra cash by helping others with yard work, helping a Mum or babysitting if he is old enough and definitely shopping on sale or at a thrift store. Also it will surely be shorts weather soon and by the time he buys more jeans they may not fit him come school in Sept. My daughter just bought 2 shirts at Value Village for about $14 which is less than she would have paid for one new so she is very happy with that. I have to say I remember growing up( and there were 5 kids) and I had 3 school dresses-one to wear, one to wash and one for spare and we changed into old play clothes when we got home from school. I think as a society our closets have gotten bigger and we now tend to wash every item of clothing after just one wearing which may not be necessary unless they are heavily soiled. With our 2 daughters (one is no longer with us) from the age of 11-12 we have given then a clothing allowance of a set amount once per month and they need to budget their clothing purchases from that-it encourages them to spend more conservatively when it is their money.

Lizzie you are absolutely correct it is a case of wants vs. needs and funny thing this am I had washed 3 pairs of his pants (1 jean, 1 tommy carpenter style pants and 1 pair of cargo pants ) and he chose the cargo pants so definitely not going to run out to buy jeans!

As the nicer weather is coming shorts will be the thing and with respect to wearing his pants another time later in the week I do agree, they don't need to be washed unless the guys are playing football and covered in grass stains or mud (lol).

He has tons of shorts and also next fall his high school is uniform only so he will just need casual or comfy clothes for weekends .

Funny thing also was yesterday I got him a 2 pairs of carpenter sytle pants for free that were Tommy Hilfiger and well his brother pulled the tab where the hammer would go (but these are not real carpenter pants) and well they need a small sewing repair nothing serious and Jaden was like you ruined my Tommy Hilfiger pants these are so expensive I was so surprised as he originally did not want these pants so things are moving along smoothly these day with respect to clothing.

A clothing allowance is a great idea I think I will maybe implement this come next fall so that he can choose his casual clothes as his will be in uniform all week, thanks for the suggestion!

[jasperandchar]

I'm off to the May It Be Frugal thread for more chatter -

[Frugalbigmama]

Kids can make due till the fall I think since summer is almost here. Live in swimshorts for us

[Crochetlady]

Thank you all for your kind words. I`m still waiting to hear what arrangements will be made.

[Caseythegoalie]

Happy Mothers Day all!